AUBURN, Ala. — Despite a heavily depleted lineup due to injuries, the LSU gymnastics team won its fifth straight decision Friday night, defeating Auburn 195.675-194.450 In front of 1,323 fans at the Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum in Auburn, Ala.
In LSU’s final SEC competiton of the regular season, the Tigers (7-2 overall, 3-2) rose to the occasion over the first three rotations, putting the meet away after solid showings on bars, vault and floor. Auburn dropped to 2-7 overall and 1-4 in SEC action.
The score was LSU’s third highest of the season. LSU improved to 32-5 against Auburn in regular season encounters and won its 17th straight overall decision in the series.
“I’m thrilled with the way we responded tonight,” said LSU head coach D-D Breaux. “I think starting out on bars the way we did set the tone for the evening. We came out and nailed our bar routines and settled in from there and had a nice evening.”
LSU opened strong on bars, coming up with a 49.000, the fifth time in the last six outings that the Tigers reached the 49-point plateau. Sharene Mamby capped a solid rotation with a 9.90 in the sixth spot, matching Beth Boudreaux‘s earlier performance for the title.
A pair of freshmen came up with solid contributions on bars for the Tigers, as Amanda Mueller added a 9.80 and Lindsay Beddow scored a 9.75. Nicki Arnstad, only nine days after having surgery to repair a torn lateral miniscus on her right knee, returned to the Tigers’ bar lineup and scored a 9.65 in her only event of the evening.
Despite a depleted lineup on vault, the Tigers came through with a respectable showing in the second rotation of the evening, scoring a 48.450. Kristin Uransky won the event with a career-high 9.925, while Adrienne Couret came up with a 9.825 to pace the Tigers.
The Tigers put the pressure on Auburn in the third rotation with an impressive 49.175 on floor behind a victorious 9.925 from Marina Degteva. The Tigers reached the 49-point barrier on floor for the fifth consecutive week, also receiving identical 9.85s from Mamby and Brooke Cazeaux, giving then a point and a half lead heading into the last rotation.
LSU closed out the evening with their second best showing of the year on beam, coming up with a 49.050 behind a 9.825 from Mueller and 9.80s from Boudreaux and Couret.
LSU returns home next Friday at 7 p.m. to host Michigan State and New Hampshire in the 2001 home finale.
Team Scoring – LSU 195.675, Auburn 194.450.
Vault- 1, LSU, 48.450. 2, Auburn, 47.750.
Bars- 1, LSU, 49.000. 2, Auburn, 48.675.
Beam- 1, LSU, 49.050. 2, Auburn, 48.725.
Floor- 1, Auburn, 49.300. 2, LSU, 49.175.